A RUNCORN roofing contractor has been fined &#xA3;1,500 for dumping asbestos demolition waste on land next to a caf&#xE9;.

Paul Clamp, of Byron Street, Runcorn, admitted three offences and was also ordered to pay &#xA3;500 towards costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution

Finola Eyers, prosecuting, told Halton Magistrates Court how on April 16 last year an inspector for the Manchester Ship Canal company investigated a report of fly-tipping on land owned by the firm next to the T Pot caf&#xE9; in Percival Lane, Runcorn.

He saw two piles of demolition waste and decided they were likely to contain asbestos.

Among pieces of broken-up corrugated asbestos sheeting, he found a piece of paper which turned out to be a notice served by Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council requiring the demolition of garages in Whiston.

Investigations revealed that Knowsley council had served the notice because the buildings were unsafe and had contracted DGA Contracts Ltd to demolish them. The firm had sub-contracted the job out to Clamp, trading as AID Roofing Services.

An Environment Agency officer took samples of the dumped waste, which consisted of broken-up roofing sheets. Analysis revealed the sheets were cement bonded asbestos.

Such waste is considered to be potentially hazardous and special conditions apply to its treatment, removal and disposal.

When DGA had sub-contracted the demolition and removal job to Clamp, they had told him he must provide a certificate to show that he was registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier.

However, he failed to do so and DGA had not known until the agency's request for information that Clamp had failed to carry out the work properly.

Further investigations revealed that Clamp had been paid with two cheques, which he had cashed at the bank and signed his name on the reverse.

The agency served a notice on Clamp requiring him to provide waste transfer notes relating to the debris he had removed from Whiston. The notice was posted to the address he had given DGA and then to what appeared to be his new address in Birkenhead, where it was signed for.

When agency officers visited the Birkenhead address, Clamp's father told them he had moved to Runcorn to live with his wife.

The officers visited Byron Street where a child confirmed Clamp lived there and the notice was posted through the letterbox.

Meanwhile DGA removed the asbestos waste and took it to an authorised site for disposal.

Clamp failed to respond to the notice. Ms Eyers told the court that asbestos fibres can cause cancers. She said that Clamp had not only dumped the asbestos in a public place to save himself money, he had also broken it up first, releasing deadly fibres into the atmosphere.

Environment Agency special enforcement officer David Owen said: 'Such incidents are taken very seriously by the agency.

'We're all aware of the hazards when dealing with asbestos, but this doesn't seem to stop people like Mr Clamp from fly-tipping it. That's why we, in conjunction with local authorities, are committed to taking action against people who fly-tip waste.'